Price is the single biggest issue with for sale by owner homes: One of the biggest benefits to using a realtor (r) is that you get an expert in setting value. To be successful, you must price your home fairly. If you overprice it, you not only will not sell it, but you may miss your most likely buyers.

Looking at Comparable Sales: The best way to figure your homes value is to look at comparable properties that sold. You can use this tool provided by HomeGain.com. Try to find homes in your neighborhood that you know. Base your home price on what you know.

Check Your Sentiment: Of course your home means a lot to you. You raised kids there, fell in love, laughed, dined, worked, etc. etc. etc. None of that makes the home more valuable on the market, in fact, showing your attachment to the home may make your home less valuable because the potential buyer has difficulty projecting it as their future home. Many knowledgable people suggest that you remove your family photographs and any item that may overly personalize your home before you show it. Forget how much the home means to you in a non-monetary sense. The issue is what is the home worth to a buyer on the market.

Price it to Sell: People often feel that they should overprice the home in hopes that they might get more for the property. There are three big problems with this philosophy:

-Even if you get your price, each extra month you keep the property you are paying utilities, mortgage payments, taxes and repairs. If you hold the property for three months to get two thousand more dollars, you can lose three thousand dollars in these costs. You would have been better to have just sold it right out of the box for less money and with less stress as you worried whether you would sell it. This is especially true if the excess cost then requires you to list with a realtor (r) when you otherwise would not have had to because you will then be faced with the commission they command for their services.

-The most likely buyers will look at your home when it first comes on the market. People in the neighborhood who have had their eye on your home or who have friends will come and look early. They may conclude that the price is not reasonable, and often they will not come back after you drop the price a month or two down the road.

-Buyers are uncomfortable making a substantially lower offer because of the personal nature of a for sale by owner property (fsbo). Because they are dealing with you face-to-face, they will often simply decline to make an offer rather than risk offending you, especially if it is someone you know.